


If Memory Serves

by moonshoespotterr (nicolem_85)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, Bottom Draco, Fluff, Getting Together, HP: EWE, Healer Draco, M/M, Memory Loss, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Hogwarts, Romance, Smut, Top Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 12:04:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4521240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicolem_85/pseuds/moonshoespotterr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you do when your schoolboy nemesis, who conveniently (or not) has no memory of the last two and a half decades of his life, is handed into your care?  </p>
<p>You fall in love with him, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Memory Serves

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Toby and luxiusmalfoy for being my amazing betas.
> 
> Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter.

Harry ducked as a nasty entrail-expelling curse hit the wall behind him, missing his head by inches and showering him with dust and plaster. This was the part of the job he loved most, the final chase, after the monotony of paperwork was done with and he could do what he did best; catch the bad guys. Harry and his team had been tracking this particular bunch of bad guys for months and tonight they’d finally been given the go ahead by Robbards to take them in. 

Seven years as an Auror had definitely helped to rein in Harry’s impulsive nature but he was still a Gryffindor at heart and so, as the other members of his team surrounded the compound and gave the all clear, he burst through the door, firing stunner after stunner at anything that moved. He trusted his partner to have his back as he surged through the room and into the fray. Hell, he trusted his partner with his life. Harry was initially annoyed to have been paired with a newbie – after all, these kids had grown up listening to stories of the Boy Who Lived and hero worship was something that Harry tried to avoid at all costs – but his partner had proven himself to be an excellent Auror. He was a quick learner with a level head and seemed to get over the shock of being partnered with the Chosen One fairly quickly. 

The fight was over before Harry knew it. The bad guys had been taken completely by surprise and, in no time at all, the Aurors were securing their prisoners and clapping each other on the back in congratulations of a job well done. Harry straightened and grinned at his team in pride. His smile faltered, however, as he caught movement in the corner of his eye. A raspy, incoherent voice shouted from the darkness and Harry had no time to draw his wand before a sharp blow to the chest knocked him from his feet. The cries of alarm from his team faded into silence as his vision went black and he fell into unconsciousness. 

\----- 

“Now don’t hesitate to come back in if you experience any problems,” Draco explained to an elderly witch as he escorted her into the reception area of St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. She had been admitted earlier that evening after her grandson had hijacked her wand and bestowed upon her a very handsome pair of fluffy rabbit ears. How Draco had managed to hold in a laugh he’d never know, but it was times like these he was thankful that he was a Healer. Never a dull moment on the Spell Damage ward, he thought with a chuckle as he made his way back upstairs. 

Of course, there were the more serious cases. When Draco had first started as a trainee Healer the ward had been packed with witches and wizards still recovering from injuries sustained in the Battle of Hogwarts mere months earlier. Later, Aurors had filled the beds as the final Death Eaters were rounded up and locked away in Azkaban. It was working on the Janus Thickey ward, however, that had finally convinced Draco to choose Spell Damage as his speciality four years ago. It was seeing the people there - the vacant expressions of the residents who most likely would never leave the hospital and the fragile smiles of the visitors coming to see their loved ones – that had made the decision for him. He wanted to help them. It was why he had chosen to be a Healer in the first place. In those years before the end he had seen so much hurt, so much pain and death, and he had hoped that becoming a Healer would go some way to making up for his part in all of it. It had been difficult at first. People had judged him, hated him even, but he had worked harder than he ever had before and he had proved everyone who had said he couldn’t do it – the other trainees, the Healers, even his parents – wrong. 

Draco shook his head to clear his mind as he entered the ward. The lights had been dimmed as the in-patients settled down for the night, leaving the corridor looking eerily deserted. Draco glanced around him, listening for the tell-tale rustling of sweet wrappers that signalled the location of the on-duty Mediwitch. Madeleine Burke had started in Spell Damage around the same time as Draco had and, although their friendship was originally based on the fact that Maddie was the only Mediwitch in the ward willing to work with a Malfoy, over the years they had become close friends. She grinned up at Draco as he rounded the welcome desk. 

“Urgh, hopefully that’s the last one for the night now,” Draco groaned as he sunk into his chair. 

“Hm, I’m not sure,” Maddie smirked. “She might be back in. I could have sworn I saw her nose twitching on her way out.” 

“Ha, ha,” Draco deadpanned. 

Maddie frowned at him, her dark blonde fringe falling into her eyes. “Aw, come on, Draco. Don’t be a grump. We’ve still got ten riveting hours ahead of us. Here, have a sweet.” 

She shook a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans in his face and Draco paused. The last time he’d tried one he’d been disgusted to taste what he could only guess was earthworm. Maddie pouted at his hesitation and Draco sighed, warily taking a bean from the outstretched box and smiling as the taste of rhubarb and custard filled his mouth. 

“See? Sugar cures all,” she declared grandly. “I’m going to grab a coffee. Want one?” 

Draco was about to answer in the affirmative when his Healer issue wristband let out a piercing whistle signalling that an emergency patient had just arrived. Seven years of training kicked in as Draco bolted out of his seat and ran towards the entrance to the ward, Maddie close on his tail. The ward doors burst open and Draco vaguely registered the Mediwizard and half dozen Aurors charging inside before his gaze latched on to the unconscious person being levitated into the corridor. 

Draco hadn’t seen Harry Potter in person since his trial all those years ago. He remembered the shock he had felt that day, not at seeing Potter there – he had attended all of the Death Eater trials that summer – but that he had testified in Draco’s defence. Looking now at the man before him Draco found it difficult to see the boy he had despised for so long; if it wasn’t for the familiar crooked glasses and mess of black hair he might not have recognised him at all. Of course, Draco would have had to have been living under a rock to avoid the endless stream of photographs and articles about Potter over the years – the wizarding world had only just recovered from his scandalous split from the Weasley girl and his subsequent coming out of the closet – but seeing him in the flesh was a different matter altogether. 

Potter had filled out impressively in the past several years, the muscles of his shoulders and arms visible through his thick Auror robes and his strong, square jaw accentuated by a dusting of dark stubble. A sharp jab to the ribs brought Draco back to reality and he looked up to find Maddie eyeing at him in confusion. Draco chastised himself for getting distracted and turned to face the Aurors, blaming his recent sexual drought for the way his eyes lingered on Potter. 

“What happened?” he demanded. 

A young lad, not long out of training by the look of it, answered. “He got hit by something but none of us heard what it was. Knocked him straight out though and we haven’t been able to wake him since.” 

Draco nodded. “I’ll need to run some diagnostic spells. If you could all just take a seat I’ll come and get you when I know more.” 

He cast a levitation charm on Potter as the Aurors shuffled to the waiting area and turned to Maddie, noticing the frown on her face as she glanced between him and Potter. 

“Maddie,” he said, making her start. “Help me get him into one of the private rooms.” 

He could tell from the determined set of her jaw that she was dying to ask what the hell had happened with Draco just moments before but she seemed to realise that this wasn’t the time for an interrogation as she hurriedly cast another levitation charm and helped to move Potter into the closest private room. 

Casting the standard set of diagnostic charms that every trainee Healer learns in their first week, Draco pursed his lips in concentration as the conjured lights above Potter flashed brightly. Heart rate normal, brain function fine, nothing out of the ordinary at all as far as Draco could tell. Just in case the Aurors had been mistaken, he cast an _Enervate_ and was disappointed when Potter remained motionless. 

“What do you reckon?” Maddie asked, concern clear on her face. 

“The diagnostics are all clear. It’ll be nearly impossible to know what spell hit him until he wakes up and he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to do that,” Draco answered wearily as he left the room. 

He found the Aurors in the waiting area; half of them slumped in the standard, arse-numbing hospital chairs and the other half frantically pacing trails into the already worn carpet. He coughed to get their attention and found himself suddenly face to face with several highly energised and very worried Aurors. 

“Is Harry okay?” “What’s wrong with him?” “Do you know what he was hit with?” “Is he awake yet?” 

Draco held up his hand as he continued to be bombarded with questions. 

“If you’ll allow me to speak, I’ll answer your questions,” Draco frowned reproachfully at the Aurors, who fell into silence. “At the moment we’re not certain on how Mr. Potter has been affected. He appears to be in fine health – all of the diagnostic tests came back normal – so I think that the best option now is to let him recover and wake up on his own. Then I believe we’ll be able to understand the full extent of his injuries, if indeed there are any.” 

That Potter was in no immediate danger seemed to drain the last vestiges of adrenaline from the Aurors as together they sagged in relief. 

“Now, I suggest you all head home and get a good night’s rest. We’ll contact the Auror office in the morning to report on Mr. Potter’s progress,” Draco finished, guiding the exhausted Aurors out of the ward. 

With the ward quiet once more, Draco went in search of Maddie. He found her in Potter’s room, sitting in a chair next at his bedside and regarding the unconscious Auror thoughtfully. She looked up as Draco poked his head through the door. 

“And now we wait?” she asked. 

“And now we wait,” he confirmed, grabbing a pile of paperwork, settling into a chair and resigning himself to a very long night. 

\----- 

After six hours Draco was beginning to get impatient. He had taken to glancing over at Potter every few minutes in between filling out his seemingly never ending pile of paperwork but the Auror remained stubbornly unconscious. Maddie had left not long ago to grab them both some food – after all, man cannot live on Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans alone – and Draco had taken to humming to himself to stave off the quiet. 

Draco trailed off as he glanced down at Potter and jumped with shock when he saw a pair of bright green eyes staring back at him. He shot to his feet, the notes he had been working on tumbling to the floor. 

“Potter! You’re awake! How do you feel?” 

Potter frowned at Draco and looked around the room in confusion. For a moment, Draco was worried that Potter’s hearing had been damaged and he was about to repeat the question when Potter spoke. 

“Where am I?” he asked, voice rasping from lack of use. 

“You’re at St Mungo’s. Your team brought you in after you were injured,” Draco answered checking Potter’s vitals. He relaxed as the results once again came back clear. 

“My…team?” Potter questioned hesitantly. 

“Yes, your team, Potter. The other Aurors you were with last night. You arrived with them a few hours ago,” Draco clarified. 

Potter stared at him, his forehead crinkling in confusion, and a lump of dread settled in Draco’s stomach as it dawned on him that there was something off about the Auror. Draco had long ago realised that he no longer hated Potter and, even if he did, his training would have prevented him from being anything but polite and professional to his schoolboy rival. But he had expected Potter to be angry, furious to find that an ex-Death Eater was his Healer and to demand another one immediately; after all, with their turbulent history Draco could hardly blame him. However, instead of the outrage he had anticipated, Draco saw absolutely no recognition in Potter’s eyes as he looked back at him. 

Shit, shit, shit, Draco thought. Okay, no need to worry. He might just be a bit groggy from being knocked out. 

“It’s okay,” Draco said reassuringly as Potter’s confusion begin to morph into panic. “You’ve been unconscious for a while; it’s perfectly normal for you to feel a bit out of it. Now, can you tell me what date it is?” 

As Potter shook his head the lump of dread in Draco’s stomach twinged uncomfortably. 

“Okay, that’s fine. Can you tell me the names of your closest friends?” Draco asked, sure that Potter couldn’t possibly have been hit so hard as to make him forget Granger and Weasley. 

Potter shook his head again, tears filling his piercing green eyes, and, heart in his mouth, Draco asked the one question that he was dreading hearing the answer to. 

“Do you know who you are?” he asked so quietly that it was nearly a whisper. 

Draco’s stomach dropped as Potter closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands, tears now unleashed and streaming down his cheeks. He could just make out a strangled “ _No_ ” from the mass of black hair and shaking shoulders as the hero of the wizarding world collapsed into broken sobs in front of his eyes. 

\----- 

Twenty minutes later Draco found himself in a position he could never have imagined in his wildest dreams. Or nightmares, depending on how you looked at it, he supposed. He was perched unsteadily on the edge of the bed, the shoulder of his robe fully soaked through, and had a lapful of Harry Potter. He wasn’t quite sure how his fingers had ended up tangled in Potter’s thick hair but his touch seemed to soothe the man sleeping fitfully in his lap so Draco let the stroking motions continue. A sudden noise from the corridor made Draco tense and he looked up in time to see Maddie push through the door, a sandwich in either hand. 

“Urg, sorry it took me so long. There was no cheese and tomato so I hope you’re okay with…” she trailed off as she took in the sight in front of her. 

Draco saw her mouth open and, having previous experience of just how loud Maddie could be, hastily held a finger to his lips and pointed to the corridor, indicating that they could talk outside. The last thing he wanted right now was for Potter to wake up before he had a chance to explain everything to her. He slowly extricated his arm from Potter’s grip, careful not to disturb him. He made it all the way to the door when he heard a sleepy voice behind him. 

“Where are you going?” Potter asked, his voice hoarse. 

“I’m just going out into the corridor for a second. I’ll only be a minute or two, okay?” Draco replied in a soothing tone. 

He saw Potter nod uncertainly and lay his head down on the pillow, his bloodshot gaze never once leaving Draco as he exited the room. 

“What was that all about?” Maddie burst out as soon as they were out of earshot. “You can’t just cuddle a patient like that. You could get into real trouble, Draco. If anyone but me had seen-“ 

“He doesn’t know who he is, Maddie,” he interrupted. 

Her eyes widened in shock. “Wh- what?” she faltered. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean that he can’t remember anything. Nothing. Not being an Auror, not his friends, not even who he is,” Draco implored her to understand. He _could_ get into serious trouble if he was caught overstepping the line with a patient, but there was no way he was going to leave a man who had just woken up not knowing who the hell he was to cry on his own. Even if that man was Harry Potter. 

Maddie nodded slowly, finally grasping the gravity of the situation. “How bad is it?” 

“As far as I can tell he has retrograde amnesia,” Draco explained quickly, reluctant to leave Potter alone for any longer than absolutely necessary. “There was no sign of memory damage in the diagnostics or anything to suggest that he’ll be unable to retain new memories so it seems likely that his memory loss is the result of a powerful shock to the system. It also looks as though Potter is able to remember general things about his life, such as that magic exists; he didn’t seem shocked at all to see me casting spells around him.” 

Draco paused to catch his breath and to make sure that Maddie was following him. At her nod he continued. 

“It’s likely that Potter’s memories will return to him in time as his body recovers from the attack, but I think that until then it would be best to limit what information we give to him about his life. He’s very fragile right now and I don’t want to cause him any more stress that could hinder the memory recovery process by telling him about the war and all the shit he’s been through.” 

Draco hadn’t realised how raised his voice had become until he noticed the stunned expression on Maddie’s face. He coughed to hide his embarrassment and gestured to the door of Potter’s room. 

As they entered through the door, Potter’s head shot up, his eyes desperately latching onto to Draco’s. Draco immediately crossed the room and placed a comforting hand on Potter’s arm, feeling the tense muscle under his fingers relax. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Maddie frown in confusion. Draco was never so touchy with patients but Potter had always been different; had always been able to get under Draco’s skin and get a reaction out of him. Granted though, Draco’s reactions had often been a lot more negative than this strange sense of protectiveness he was feeling now. 

“My name is Healer Malfoy. I’m going to try and explain everything to you now, okay?” Draco asked, meeting Potter’s worried gaze. 

Potter hesitated but then the determined, stubborn look that Draco had known and hated so much in school replaced the fear and he nodded. 

“Your name is Harry Potter. You’re twenty-five years old and have been working as an Auror since you graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seven years ago,” Draco paused, hoping he wasn’t overwhelming the man in front of him, but, although Potter looked confused, the panicked look from earlier hadn’t returned and so Draco continued slowly. “Last night you were brought into St Mungo’s when you were injured on an Auror raid. You appear to have lost nearly all of your memory from before the accident but all signs so far suggest that this is a temporary memory loss. We’re not sure how long it will take yet but we believe that with time you’ll manage to recover all of your memories,” Draco finished. 

Potter breathed out a sigh of relief and Draco waited as he remained silent, processing all the information he had just been told. “I don’t know how to thank you,” he finally said in a watery voice as he glanced between Draco and Maddie. “But,” he began, frowning at Draco, “if my name is Harry then why were you calling me Potter before?” 

Draco faltered in surprise; he’d never even considered calling Potter anything other than that. 

“Old habit, I suppose,” Draco replied, intentionally vague. “We knew each other in school.” 

Potter grinned at him and Draco found himself thinking that this was the first time that smile had ever been directed at him. He was so entranced by the way the Potter’s face lit up when he smiled – such a change from the scowls and smirks he had received from the man in school – that it took Maddie’s elbow to his side to bring him back to the present moment. 

Damn. That was twice now he’d been caught staring dreamily at Potter. Keep it in your fucking pants, Draco, he reprimanded himself. 

“We knew each other in school?” Potter asked, clearly excited to find someone who knew him and completely oblivious to Draco’s inner turmoil. “Were we friends?” 

“Erm, not exactly.” Ha, bit of an understatement there, Draco thought. 

“Oh,” Potter’s face fell. “Well do you think it would be okay if you called me Harry anyway? It’s just that this is a lot to take in,” he looked at them sheepishly. 

Draco hesitated and Maddie jumped in, glaring at him reproachfully. “Of course we can, Harry. Anything to make this whole ordeal easier for you. It’d probably help for you to call us by our first names as well, right? Well I’m Maddie and Mr-big-shot-Healer over there is Draco,” she smirked over at him. “Say hi, Draco.” 

Draco glared back at Maddie, silently promising revenge, but softened as Pott- damn it; he supposed he would have to call him Harry now _–_ Harry’s expectant face turned to him. “Err…hi.” This was ridiculous, he was being introduced to a man he’d known since he was eleven, for Merlin’s sake, but how he was supposed to remain scowling once Harry turned that brilliant smile on him again he had no idea. 

“Hi,” Harry said, and did Draco imagine it or did he see a spark of interest in the Auror’s eyes as his gaze passed over him? He shrugged it off as the result of tiredness and left Harry to sleep while he went to do the thing he’d been putting off all night; call Weasley and Granger. 

\----- 

As Draco waited in front of the hospital Floo he had to urge himself to calm down. Sure, they had hated each other in school and had generally existed to make each other miserable, but that was years ago. They were all adults now. He took a deep breath as Granger appeared in the fireplace. 

“Malfoy?” she exclaimed, clearly shocked, and Draco heard Weasley behind her yell, “Malfoy?! What the fuck does he want?” 

So much for being adults and moving on from their childhood rivalry, Draco sighed. “Granger,” he replied calmly. “I’m calling from Spell Damage at St Mungo’s. You are listed as Harry Potter’s emergency contacts, is that correct?” 

Granger’s eyes went wide. “Harry? Harry’s there? Oh, Merlin. Is he alright?” 

Draco hesitated, unsure about how much to tell them about Harry’s condition over Floo. “He woke up not too long ago and is sleeping at the moment. Why don’t you come in this morning and I’ll explain everything to you.” 

Granger nodded. “We’ll be in as soon as we can,” she said as the call cut off. 

Draco slumped and let out a sigh of relief before he realised that he now had to try and explain to them that their best friend no longer knew who they were. Shit. 

\----- 

Draco knocked tentatively on Harry’s door – it still felt strange calling him that – and opened it when he heard a sleepy voice call out. He peered into the darkened room and spelled the curtains open, immediately regretting his decision as the early morning light spilled onto the man in front of him. At some point during the night Harry had shed the standard hospital shirt, leaving his impressive body free for Draco’s perusal and oh! how he perused. His eyes were drawn like magnets to strong, broad shoulders and, as his gaze drifted down Harry’s torso, he couldn’t help but imagine following the path with his fingers. In his mind he stroked down Harry’s chest, tracing the muscles with his fingertips, and circled around smooth, pink nipples. His hand moved lower, caressing the thin trail of dark hair that led down past Harry’s navel and vanished under the bedsheets as he wondered if he’d find Harry equally unclothed if he ventured below. 

A breathy laugh interrupted his fantasy. Draco blushed bright scarlet, realising that he’d been caught ogling Harry Potter by none other than Harry Potter himself, and cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment. He looked up uncertainly at the man in question, fully expecting Harry to be confused or even horrified by Draco’s attention. He gaped in surprise as Harry smiled shyly back at him and proceeded to unmistakably eye up Draco in return, raising an eyebrow in challenge and sending him a flirtatious grin. So definitely not imagining the spark of interest I saw earlier then, Draco thought as he took a seat and pulled out his notes, more grateful than ever for his loose-fitting Healer robes. 

“Good morning, Harry,” he greeted, trying to act as though the previous few minutes had never happened. 

“Morning, Draco,” Harry replied and Draco felt a tingle go through him at the sound of his first name rolling off Harry’s tongue so naturally. He squirmed in his chair, trying to hide the reaction the brunet was having on him and not catching Harry’s triumphant smirk. Ignoring the situation would be a lot easier if he would stop being so gorgeous – not to mention if he would just put his damn clothes back on – Draco thought. 

Remembering that he had come into Harry’s room to do something other than stare at his patient, Draco opened the file in front of him. 

“Your hospital records show that you’ve listed two people as your emergency contacts should you be admitted here but, because you were brought in so late last night and seemed to be in a stable condition, I’ve put off contacting them until this morning. They’ll probably be in to see you very soon.” 

The cheeky smile dropped immediately from Harry’s face and a nervous frown crinkled his forehead. “Who are they? My emergency contacts.” 

“Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. They were your best friends in school and, as far as I am aware, have remained so.” 

Harry’s face split into a wide grin. “And they’re coming in to see me?” At the Healer’s nod he bounced lit up in excitement and Draco felt a stab of irrational jealousy course through him that people Harry didn’t even remember could make him so happy. 

He brushed away the feeling, reminding himself that, no matter how many interested looks the Auror gave him, he was Harry’s Healer and that was all. “I’m sure they’ll be delighted to see you. I’ll bring them in as soon as they arrive,” he said, still caught slightly off guard by the envy running through his veins as he left the room to wait for Harry’s visitors. 

\----- 

It was nearing the end of his shift and Draco was once again lost in thought about a certain dark-haired Auror. On his return from Harry’s room Maddie had taken one look at his face and had demanded an explanation for his sudden broodiness but Draco had brushed her off, claiming tiredness. He was confused as it was and the Mediwitch’s probing, however well-meaning, was the last thing he needed. The events of the night raced around in his mind, over and over again, until Draco was faced with only one possible explanation for it all – for the way his eyes were constantly drawn to Harry, for the way his spine tingled when Harry said his name and the way when faced with Harry’s brilliant smile he could do nothing but smile back - but it was an explanation he was very keen to ignore. 

Draco was jolted out of his worrying as the ward doors slammed open and admitted two very frantic people, one with fiery red hair and the other with a very bushy, brown mane. He sighed and stood up as the wizard and witch approached. This was it then. 

“Weasley. Granger,” he greeted courteously. 

“What? Not Weasel and the Mudblood anymore, Malfoy?” Weasley shot back at him. 

Draco flinched at the venom in Weasley’s voice and out of the corner of his eye saw Maddie jump to her feet behind the welcome desk, her face screwed up in outrage. He hurriedly caught her eye and shook his head before she had the chance to interrupt; the last thing he wanted right now was to fall back into old habits and start an argument. 

“I think we’ve all grown up a lot since then,” Draco replied calmly, relaxing as Maddie warily took her seat. He glanced at Granger and felt a spark of hope when he saw her scowling at the redhead, clearly shocked at his outburst. 

“Ron! We’re not in school anymore. Act your age, for Merlin’s sake.” 

Weasley’s face flushed in embarrassment, the colour clashing horribly with his hair, Draco thought. 

“Sorry about that, Malfoy,” Granger said politely, throwing one last reproving glare at her husband before turning back to Draco. “How’s Harry? Can we see him?” 

Draco hesitated. There was no easy way to explain to them that their best friend had lost all of his memories and had no idea who they were, so - like ripping off a plaster - Draco told them everything. 

He told them about Harry being brought in the night before, about the unknown spell that had hit him and the injury he had sustained, and watched their faces fall as he explained the memory loss. Granger’s eyes filled with tears as Draco recounted Harry waking up confused and not knowing where or even who he was. When he moved on to discussing the Auror’s recovery they both leaned in intently. 

“Harry’s body has been put under an incredible amount of stress which I believe was the cause of the memory loss. He needs time to recover but after that I have every hope that his full memory will return to him,” Draco explained and identical looks of hope blossomed on Weasley and Granger’s faces. 

“However,” Draco continued, the pair’s cautious smiles freezing, “it is my opinion that, in order for Harry to recover, it would be best if he is told as little as possible about the war or any other traumatic events.” 

Granger nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. Telling Harry about Voldemort-“ Draco winced, silently cursing that he still reacted that way after so many years “- his parents or anything else to do with the war would just cause him extra stress.” 

“Exactly,” he smiled at her. They hadn’t called her the smartest witch in her year for nothing, Draco thought. 

“I’ll just go and let Harry know you’re here then,” he said, turning and making his way down the ward and towards the private room. He knocked quietly just in case the room’s occupant was asleep and opened the door fully when a voice called out. 

“Hi, Draco.” 

Harry was sat on his bed, fully dressed in hospital pyjamas – thank Merlin – and smiled when he saw Draco. 

“Hello, Harry,” he greeted. “Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley have just arrived to see you,” he said, reaching out and touching the brunet’s shoulder reassuringly when an anxious frown replaced his smile. “Hey, relax. They’ve been your best friends since you were eleven. You’ve nothing to worry about,” he finished, sending Harry a small, encouraging smile. 

Harry smiled back shyly before taking in a deep breath and slowly releasing it. 

“Okay?” Draco asked. 

Harry nodded back. “Yeah. I’m ready.” 

Draco opened the door and peered out into the hallway, gesturing at Weasley and Granger to come in. He barely made it out of the way as a teary Granger hurtled into the room, closely followed by Weasley, and straight into Harry’s arms. 

“Oh, Harry! We were so worried when we got the call this morning. Thank Merlin you’re alright,” she babbled, her face buried in Harry’s neck. Harry looked up at Draco with wide, pleading eyes and a look that clearly said _help me_. Draco chuckled as he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, smirking at Harry’s good-humoured scowl as Granger continued. “Malfoy told us all about your accident and your mem- Oh!” she suddenly released her vice-like grip on Harry’s shirt and sat back. “You have no idea who we are, do you?” 

Harry shook his head sheepishly. 

“Well,” Granger continued, “I’m Hermione and this is Ron…” 

Draco smiled at the look of bafflement on Harry’s face as the best friends he didn’t remember introduced themselves and, determined to give the trio some privacy, sneaked out of the room. 

\----- 

Draco stretched his arms above his head, trying to ease the crick in his back – the result of being bent over paperwork for the last hour – and looked at his watch. Eight fifty-five am. Only five minutes until the end of his mammoth shift. 

“Are you nearly ready to go, Draco?” Maddie called over to him as she finished her morning round of the ward. Her shift was finishing at the same time as Draco’s and, like him, she was back in this evening. 

“Paperwork is finally done,” he groaned dramatically. “Just give me a moment to check on Harry.” 

Entering Harry’s room, he took in the scene before him with relief. A small part of him had been worried that Weasley and Granger would accidentally let something slip and upset Harry. It had taken all of his willpower to not run back and check on them but it turned out that he needn’t have worried at all. 

Weasley and Granger occupied the two chairs in the room and in between them sat Harry, cross-legged on the covers and practically buzzing with excitement. 

“Sorry,” Draco started, loath to banish the source of Harry’s happiness. “My shift is over soon so I’m afraid that you’ll have to leave.” Harry’s face fell and Draco hurried on. “You can come back later though. Normal visiting hours are between one and four pm.” 

Nodding, Granger stood up and leaned over to give Harry a hug. “We’ll be back soon, Harry.” 

“Yeah, mate,” Ron added as he thumped his best friend on the back. “See you later.” 

Harry waved as they left the room. 

Draco closed the door after them. “Okay, Harry?” he asked. 

“Wonderful,” Harry said. “They’re really great. Hermione said that she’s going to bring in some photographs for me to look at later.” 

“That’s brilliant, Harry,” Draco said smiling – the Gryffindor’s excitement was contagious. “Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye before I left.” Harry looked panicked for a second until Draco added, “Don’t worry though. I’ll be back in this evening and then I want to hear all about-“ 

A knock at the door interrupted and Maddie poked her head into the room. 

“Sorry to disturb,” she said, “but are you ready to go, Draco?” 

Draco sighed. Now that it came to it he found that he really didn’t want to leave Harry at all but he could feel the ache in his limbs and the pressure behind his eyes that told him that his body needed sleep. 

“Try and get some rest, Harry. I’ll see you this evening,” Draco said. 

“Bye, Draco,” Harry smiled sadly. 

“Goodbye, Harry,” Maddie sing-songed as she left the room. Harry sent her a glancing wave but his eyes lingered on Draco’s as the Healer reluctantly backed into the corridor and closed the door. 

“Come on,” Maddie said, leading them towards the hospital Floo point. “I’m shattered. You can see Harry later tonight.” 

Draco scowled at her. “What do you mean by that?” he demanded, damning the uncontrollable blush that spread up his neck. 

“I think you know what I mean,” Maddie replied, winking at him as she stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a whoosh of green flames. 

Draco huffed, annoyed that she had managed to get the last word, and followed her into the fireplace. He threw down a handful of Floo powder and felt a spinning sensation as the sterile brightness of the hospital vanished and was replaced with the comforting sight of his apartment. 

It had taken years for Draco to save up enough galleons to finally move out of the Manor – Trainee Healers don’t exactly rake it in and he was determined not to accept even a knut from his mother – but, looking around the small living space now, Draco couldn’t be more proud. The room was decorated in warm browns and creams, a hint of dark green here and there lending the space a dash of colour; he was a Slytherin after all. A soft, squishy sofa sat in the corner of the room and a small kitchenette occupied the other end. Cooking was the one thing Draco had been completely unprepared for when he left home – he had been cooked for by house elves for his whole life – but, following a month living on nothing but cereal and singed cheese toasties, he had marched to Flourish and Blotts and purchased every single wizarding cookbook he could find. Now interspersed between the dusty old tomes and Healing textbooks filling Draco’s bookshelves sat titles such as ‘Charm Your Own Cheese’, ‘Enchantment in Baking’, and ‘One Minute Feasts – It’s Magic!’ 

It wasn’t much, Draco thought as he removed his robes and toed off his shoes, but it was his. He walked to his bedroom, his feet dragging behind him as he changed into pyjamas and collapsed into bed. Exhaustion hit him like a bludger and he was out within seconds of closing his eyes. 

\----- 

_“Good morning, Har-“_

_Draco knocked on the door and entered the room, stopping in his tracks and his jaw dropping as he focused on his patient. Harry Potter lay splayed out before him dressed in nothing but his hospital pyjama bottoms and, was it just Draco or did they look tighter than earlier? He glanced appreciatively over the form-fitting material and looked up at Harry, surprised when hungry, green eyes locked onto his own._

_“Close the door, Draco,” Harry purred, rolling the ‘r’ in his name and making Draco’s skin break out into goosebumps._

_He rushed to obey, unable to remove his eyes from the man in front of him._

_“Good,” Harry nodded, patting the space next to him invitingly, his intense stare holding Draco’s. “Now come here.”_

_Draco stepped forward unsteadily and took a seat on the bed. Sitting up to face him, Harry lifted an arm and ran his fingers lightly through Draco’s hair, smirking when he heard the blond’s breath catch._

_“I’ve noticed you staring at me, Draco,” Harry said, trailing his fingers soothingly across Draco’s forehead when a flash of panic crossed the Healer’s eyes. “That’s okay though, I’ve been staring at you, too.”_

_He had no time to be surprised as Harry surged forward, hands reaching up to cup his face, and pressed his lips to Draco’s. He felt the sharpness of teeth as Harry nipped at his lower lip and opened his mouth under the assault, a groan escaping him as Harry’s tongue moved forward to meet his own. His hands found their way to the Auror’s hair where they gripped tight, manoeuvring the other man to deepen the kiss._

_Harry pulled back and Draco pouted at the loss._

_“I’ve been watching you for so long, Draco,” Harry murmured as his mouth travelled along Draco’s jaw, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin behind his ear and making him gasp._

_Draco felt fingers at the clasp of his robes as Harry trailed kisses down his neck and across his collarbone and shivered as cool air touched his bare skin. He vaguely heard his robes being discarded on the floor as strong hands pushed him onto his back. Draco let out a whimper unbefitting of a Malfoy as Harry dipped his head to his chest and swirled his tongue around a nipple. His hands were everywhere, feverishly hot on Draco’s skin, as his mouth moved lower and lower, teasing with lips and tongue and teeth. Draco felt warm breath on his stomach and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood when rough fingers began to slowly remove his boxers. He gasped as his cock sprung free from the restrictive material and arched his back, trying to find the smallest bit of friction to ease the throbbing ache in between his legs._

_“Fuck, Draco.”_

_Draco looked down and nearly came there and then. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a more erotic sight in his life; Harry lying between his legs, his hands roaming over Draco like he couldn’t get enough of him, hot breath ghosting over his cock and eyes full of want, pupils fully blown and nearly obscuring the brilliant green, boring into his own._

_He held his breath as Harry slowly, agonisingly lowered his mouth to Draco’s cock and groaned aloud when he felt a warm wetness envelop him. He closed his eyes – the dual sensations of watching Harry and feeling his talented mouth nearly overwhelming him – and threw his head back as Harry took him deeper. Harry drew back, his tongue swirling around the head until the torturous pace had Draco whining and thrusting upwards. He felt Harry’s chuckle as he was held down by the hips and engulfed fully over and over._

_Oh fuck, Draco managed to think through the haze of pleasure as he felt pressure mount in his abdomen. His balls tightened and his fingers scrabbled for purchase on the bedsheets as Harry sped up, ripping a desperate cry from Draco. So close, so close, so-_

SQUARK! SQUARK! SQUARK! 

Draco blearily opened his eyes. He cancelled the alarm spell, checked the time – four pm – and, throwing his wand down on the bed, rubbed his hands over his eyes. What the hell had that been, he thought as glimpses of his dream came back to him. Glimpses of a topless Harry Potter lying between Draco’s legs and giving him the best- 

He shook his head, trying to dispel the images in his mind, and groaned aloud when a rather prominent reminder of his dream made itself present. Draco ran a hand down his stomach, coming to rest on the bulge tenting his pyjama bottoms. No, he thought, yanking his hand away as if it had been electrified. 

“I will not wank to Harry Potter, I will NOT wank to Harry Potter,” Draco chanted like a mantra as he got out of bed and went to take a very, very cold shower. 

\----- 

Draco was not avoiding Harry Potter. He just had a lot of work to do, that was all. That he had managed to drag out the check-ups on his ward patients to twice as long as usual, or that had he refused to even look at the door to Harry’s room since arriving at St Mungo’s an hour ago, was beside the point. It was just that, whenever he thought about Harry, a dozen scenes from his, well - he supposed it was a sex dream - flitted through his head, making him blush furiously and curse his subconscious for doing this to him in the first place. Okay, Draco thought as he settled in front of a rather large pile of notes, I just need a distraction is all. 

“I’ll finish up for you here if you like, Draco,” Maddie interrupted. “You should go see Harry. He’s been asking after you.” 

“I can manage quite alright on my own, thank you,” he replied, coolly. 

Maddie leaned in. “You haven’t been to see him all morning. You’re not avoiding him are you?” she asked. “You seemed so fond of him yesterday.” 

“I am not avoiding Harry.” 

“Ahhh,” she grinned, “but you said nothing about not being fond of him.” 

“Fine,” Draco huffed in exasperation. “Enjoy the paperwork,” he said, dumping the gigantic pile of notes in front of her. 

“Enjoy Harry!” Maddie shouted, her cackling laugh following Draco down the corridor as he held up two fingers over his shoulder. 

The door to Harry’s private room was propped open and, through the gap, Draco could see Harry sitting on the bed with a large book open in his lap. He watched for a moment, captivated by the look of concentration on Harry’s face as he turned the page, a lock of dark hair falling into his eyes making Draco’s fingers twitch. He took a deep breath and rapped his knuckles once against the wood. 

“Hello, Harry.” 

Harry looked up at him with bright eyes, a warm smile curving his lips, and Draco felt his breath catch as his mind unhelpfully supplied another image of Harry looking up at him, green eyes staring into his with a different kind of warmth entirely. He felt a blush creep up his neck and swallowed, willing the memories away before the effect they were having on him became noticeable. 

“What’s that you’ve got there?” he asked quickly when Harry shot him a curious look. 

“Oh! Hermione and Ron came back this afternoon and brought an old photo album of mine along with them. I think they thought it would help with my memory but so far…” Harry trailed off, despondent. 

“Hey, it’s early days still. Don’t worry if things aren’t coming back yet.” Draco took a seat next to the bed. “May I see?” 

Harry grinned and turned to the front of the book. “Sure. Look, here’s one of me in my first year at Hogwarts,” he said, pointing to a photo of a very young Harry looking proud in Gryffindor colours. Draco smiled, remembering the small, baby-faced boy he had once tried to befriend. 

Harry flicked through the pages – the golden trio together in the snow, Harry and his housemates in the common room, a young boy with bright blue hair, who Draco found vaguely familiar, laughing at the camera – and stopped on a photo of himself atop a broomstick. Draco watched as Harry sped around the Quidditch pitch, his crimson robes flapping in the wind, and gasped when he saw his own image enter the frame. Sometime in fifth year, he estimated as he saw himself battle with Harry for the snitch. The two boys spiralled around each other, twisting and turning side by side like a strange airborne dance. It was beautiful. The photo reset to the beginning and Draco, feeling his heart racing, looked up at Harry – why on earth would Harry have kept a photograph of him? 

“I didn’t even know I could fly,” Harry said, oblivious to Draco’s shock. “You though,” he shook his head in appreciation, “you’re amazing.” 

“You used to beat me every single time,” Draco managed to croak out. 

Harry smiled slyly. “Well, maybe we should have a rematch sometime.” 

Draco felt his jaw drop as he stared at Harry who raised an eyebrow at Draco’s hesitation. “Scared, Draco?” 

Draco laughed, the tension in him draining as he remembered a similar conversation taking place between the two of them long ago. “You wish,” he smirked. “We’ll see when you’re better, okay?” 

Harry nodded and smiled as he continued to flick through the photo album. “I’ll hold you to that.” 

\----- 

Draco groaned as he rolled his shoulders. He had managed to make a swift exit after Harry’s invitation to go flying – he wasn’t sure how long his resolve would have lasted before he gave in and said _yes, I can’t think of a single thing I’d like to do more than going flying with you, Harry, unless it involves a distinct lack of clothing_ – and since then had been plunged into complete pandemonium. In the past few hours he had had to deal with an underage wizard who had attempted to vanish his acne and had instead managed to remove all the hair from his body, a young witch whose brother had jinxed her eyebrows to grow a metre a minute, and an elderly wizard who had part transformed himself into a duck and who smelled suspiciously like firewhiskey. Hair jinxes were rather simple to correct and Draco and Maddie had been able to send both the young witch and wizard home with their parents within an hour. Animal transformations, however, were much more difficult to reverse and Draco rolled his eyes in irritation as another loud quack echoed down the corridor from the direction of the public ward. 

Maddie slumped down in the chair next to him and took a bite out of a half melted chocolate frog as she reached out for the pile of paperwork from their new patients. “Well that was mad,” she sighed, chewing slowly on her mouthful of chocolate. “I swear that little girl was more hair than girl at one point.” 

Draco snorted. “You’re not wrong there,” he said, picking up a file. 

“Hey, how was Harry earlier?” she asked, prompting Draco to scowl at her in anticipation of another lewd joke. She ignored him and carried on. “He seemed really happy to see his friends again today, I hope you didn’t infect him with your grumpiness.” 

“He was fine, don’t worry,” Draco said, throwing one last glare for good measure. “Actually, he was showing me his photo album. I guess Weasley and Granger thought it might help to trigger his memory but no luck so far.” 

Maddie nodded and Draco paused, wondering whether to tell her about the one photo that he just couldn’t get out of his head. 

“I- I was in it,” he stammered, causing Maddie to look up from her notes. 

“What?” she asked, her brow furrowed. 

“Well, it wasn’t just a photo of me,” Draco explained. “It was of both of us; of us playing Quidditch in school.” 

Maddie bit her lip in confusion. “Huh.” 

“It’s just, it’s a bit weird isn’t it? I mean, why on earth would he have it?” 

“Maybe he just likes the reminder of playing Quidditch in school and you happened to be in the shot” she suggested unconvincingly. 

Draco rubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, maybe.” 

He just couldn’t understand it. That album was full of people Harry cared about – Granger and Weasley, other assorted redheads, school friends – and there, right in the middle, was Draco. Perhaps it was unintentional, he thought as he sighed and turned back to his notes, after all, why would Harry Potter want a photograph of me? 

“Speak of the devil,” Maddie suddenly said mysteriously. 

Draco looked up sluggishly, still caught up in the enigma that was Harry Potter, and followed Maddie’s line of sight down the ward, comprehension dawning when he spotted what had caught her eye. Standing hesitantly in the corridor outside his room was Harry. 

“Everything okay, Harry?” Maddie called out. 

Harry nodded sheepishly. “Yeah. I just can’t sleep.” 

“Why don’t you come and sit with us for a bit?” she suggested. “We’re not doing much, just boring patient notes.” 

“Are you sure?” Harry asked uncertainly, his gaze landing questioningly on Draco. 

Draco smiled. “Yeah, of course,” he said, pulling out a chair for Harry who grinned and made his way round the desk. 

“Thank Merlin. I thought I was going to have to read another of the books Hermione gave me. Don’t get me wrong, she’s great, but these books are just so hard to read. They’re all about magical history and elf enslavement,” Harry grimaced. 

Draco laughed. “I could bring you some books if you’d like,” he said. “I’ve got loads at home and I can guarantee they’d be a lot more interesting than magical bloody history. It was bad enough learning that at school.” 

“That’d be brilliant,” Harry smiled. “Thanks, Draco.” 

Draco felt his cheeks flush – he didn’t think he’d ever get used to hearing Harry say his name – and ignored Maddie as she rolled her eyes and muttered _it’s like I’m not even here_. 

“So,” she said, “did you enjoy your visit from your friends this afternoon?” 

Draco breathed a small sigh of relief as Harry’s attention shifted to Maddie; faced with that smile and those green eyes he felt helpless, like he couldn’t trust himself not to say something utterly stupid. 

“It was great,” Harry gushed. “They told me loads of stories from when we were at Hogwarts. You were in some of them, Draco.” 

Draco raised his eyebrow in interest, hoping that the tales Granger and Weasley had told Harry didn’t show him in too bad a light, but Harry’s enthusiasm was contagious and he soon found himself completely captivated. He and Maddie laughed along as Harry recounted stories of his childhood – of the Quidditch world cup, of Christmas at Hogwarts and summers at the Burrow. 

“So we went down to Hagrid’s – he was the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, I think,” Harry was explaining excitedly. “There was this gigantic egg in the fire and Ron said that it hatched and there was a dragon inside it! And then Hermione said that you saw us, Draco, so we had to try and get rid of the dragon before you ratted us out!” 

Harry smirked at him. “Yes, well,” Draco said with a dignified sniff. “I was doing it for the sake of the school. Can you image what would have happened if Hagrid had kept it as a pet and it had escaped?” 

“Oh yes, Draco, I’m sure your intentions were very noble,” Maddie said sardonically. “Now shush so Harry can carry on with the story.” 

Draco rolled his eyes but kept quiet as Harry continued. 

“Yeah, anyway, one of Ron’s brothers works with dragons in Romania so we wrote to him and he said that he could take the dragon back with him to the reserve. We got a crate and took it up to the tower – apparently I had an invisibility cloak or something,” Harry said casually, oblivious to the dumbstruck look on Draco’s face as he finally understood the reason why the trio were so impossibly jammy in school. “So they took the dragon away but on our way back we forgot my cloak and got caught by the caretaker, but then we found out that Draco had been caught out of bed as well trying to snitch on us so we all ended up having detention together!” 

Maddie cackled and Draco smiled wistfully as he remembered the outrage his eleven year old self had felt that Potter had smuggled a dragon into the castle and got away with it while he, who had only been trying to report the offence to the proper authorities, had been punished. 

“Okay, so maybe I was a little shit,” Draco conceded, “but you were always up to something. Can you really blame me for trying to get you in trouble?” 

Harry shook his head, laughing. “I guess not. You must have been a little shit though; if you were this nice in school I can’t imagine why we wouldn’t have been friends.” 

Draco felt the smile freeze on his face as a thousand thoughts swarmed through his head – because you rejected me, because I was cruel to your friends, because my aunt killed your godfather, because I’m the reason Albus Dumbledore is dead, because my parents supported the psychopath who murdered your parents and tried to murder you, because I was stupid enough to follow them and get this fucking mark on my arm. 

“Hey,” Harry said, noticing that something was wrong. Draco jumped as Harry placed a hand on his arm, fingers brushing the disfigured skin of his inner forearm through the thin material of his robes. “Draco, are you okay?” 

Draco took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his face. “Of course. I’m fine, Harry.” 

Harry didn’t look convinced. “Are you su-“ 

“So,” Maddie interrupted loudly, catching Draco’s eye and sending him a small, reassuring smile, “is anyone hungry? I’m absolutely famished. I reckon there should still be some food in the cafeteria. Harry, sweetheart, would you mind giving me a hand?” 

“Erm, yeah, okay,” Harry said, shooting Draco a concerned look before standing up and following Maddie out of the ward. 

Draco sighed, lowering his head to the desk with a thunk. He’d have to thank Maddie later; this wasn’t the first time she’d had to diffuse an awkward situation after someone had asked about Draco’s past. He breathed in and out slowly, remembering the calming techniques he had mastered after the war to control his frequent panic attacks, and felt his body relax as he cleared his mind. They’d better not have run out of fucking cheese and tomato sandwiches again, he thought as he sat up, picked up his quill and tried to carry on with the dwindling stack of patient notes. 

\----- 

Their strange nightly routine carried on over the next few days; Draco would check up on Harry when he arrived at work, he and Maddie would do the rounds on the public ward before turning the lights off for the night and then, sometime around one or two am, Harry would emerge from his room claiming that he was unable to sleep. The day beforehand Draco had brought Harry a selection of his favourite novels – Harry had been surprised to see a few muggle titles among the wizarding books but Draco had set him straight because Robert Galbraith was a literary genius, thank you very much – and since then he had been ploughing through the pile at an alarming rate. 

“Urgh,” Harry groaned, putting down the Auror spy thriller he had been reading for the past hour and rubbing his hands over his face. “I don’t think I can read anymore; my eyes can’t focus.” 

“Hm?” Draco said, looking up from his notes. “Oh, well I’m nearly finished here. There’s an old wizard chess set in the staff room I could bring up if you wanted to play.” 

Harry brightened. “Sounds fun. I’m not sure how good I’ll be though.” 

“Don’t worry,” Draco waved him off with a smirk, “I’ll go easy on you.” 

Maddie snorted from her position hunched over the desk. “Well you can go easy on him someplace else. I’ve got to finish this report for tomorrow morning.” 

“We can use my room?” Harry suggested. 

Draco hesitated, wary of being alone with Harry after what had happened last time, but he rationalised that Maddie would be just down the corridor. “Sure,” he said, nodding. “I’ll be right back.” 

The staff room was one floor below Spell Damage so it only took Draco a few minutes to nip down, grab the very battered set of wizard chess and head back upstairs. When he returned he found Harry already sitting cross legged on his bed. Draco glanced at the chair next to the bed – he really ought to sit there but, ah fuck it – and clambered onto the bed to sit opposite Harry, leaving enough space in between them for the chess board. 

“Okay. So you’ve probably played wizard chess before – I remember Weasley being a competent enough player at Hogwarts – but I can go through the rules for you if you’d like,” Draco said, setting up the pieces on the board in front of him. 

Harry nodded and leaned forward to listen. “Well, this is your king,” Draco explained, going through each piece, its uses and its movements. “It’ll probably be a lot easier to learn as you play though. I’ll be white so I go first.” 

Draco guided Harry through his first few turns and was impressed when he turned out to be a quick learner. By the end of the game Harry understood what each of the pieces did as well as some simple strategies and tactics. 

“Now, if I move my bishop here on my next turn you’ll be in check, so what do you do?” asked Draco. 

Harry pursed his lips in thought, hand hovering over the board. “I could move my knight,” he said, touching the piece and beginning to move it. 

“You don’t want to do that,” Draco said, reaching out and stopping Harry’s hand, “because then my queen can move in. What you want to do is move your rook,” he guided Harry’s hand across the board, “here.” 

Draco looked up to explain the move and found Harry staring back at him with wide eyes. A warm something moved under his fingers and Draco belatedly realised that he was still holding Harry’s hand over the chess board. Draco’s lips parted in astonishment as Harry slowly rotated his hand, the Auror’s fingers trailing over his palm and down over the pulse point on his wrist. Heart racing, Draco shakily, almost instinctively, closed his fingers around the warm hand in his and leaned forward in anticipation. 

A loud quack from the direction of the corridor made Draco jump and, breaking eye contact, he hastily let go of Harry’s hand, aware that he was turning a rather shocking shade of crimson. 

“Er, right,” Draco said, focusing intently on the board. “As I was saying, you want to move your rook here because… er…” his brain turned to mush as he tried to remember exactly why Harry should move his rook, the blood pounding in his ears making it difficult to concentrate. 

“Draco-” 

“Oh, would you look at the time,” he said, interrupting Harry and glancing dramatically at his watch, “it’s getting really late. You should be going to bed now or the Healer on tomorrow morning will have my head!” 

Feeling the nervous energy coiling in his gut, Draco stood up from the bed and began to hurriedly pack the chess set away. “Right. Goodnight, Harry,” he said, backing out of the room and closing the door behind him, ignoring Harry’s pleas of _Draco, wait_. 

Draco loosened the top button of his robe, trying to get some much needed air to his overheated skin, and collapsed against the wall as disjointed thoughts rolled around in his head. Harry Potter held my hand. I held his hand back. Why did I do that? Oh, Merlin. The way he looked at me. Like he never wanted to let go. I never wanted to let go. Fuck. 

He jumped to his feet and rushed down the corridor, needing to be anywhere else. Through the buzzing in his head he vaguely heard Maddie call out but her voice was cut off as the ward doors slammed behind him. Draco ran, his jumbled thoughts coalescing into one terrifying, stomach churning, heart palpitating realisation. He was in love with Harry Potter. 

\----- 

Draco shivered in the early morning air. The light drizzle had slowly permeated his thin Healer robes, leaving him soaked through by the time that Maddie finally found him. 

“There you are,” she sighed, closing the hospital door behind her. “I’ve been looking for you for ages. I had to bribe a Mediwizard from Creature Induced Injuries with my last box of liquorice wands to keep an eye on the ward for me.” She peered closer at her friend as this failed to draw any kind of reaction from him. “Hey,” she moved closer and rested her hand on his shoulder, “everything okay?” 

He looked up at her with bloodshot eyes and shook his head. “No.” 

“Is it about Harry?” she asked with a look that was much too knowing for Draco’s liking. 

Draco sighed. “Is it that obvious?” 

Maddie rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Give me some credit. I could see that you liked him as soon as he was admitted. Little tip, Draco; when trying to hide a crush it’s helpful not to stare at the object of your affection as much as you did.” 

“I don’t like him, Maddie,” Draco said, staring down miserably into his lap. He took a deep breath –the idea of saying the words out loud was terrifying, like it would somehow make it all real – and plunged. “I think I’m in love with him.” 

Maddie had half been expecting this; she had seen the way Draco had been looking at Harry recently. “Is that really such a bad thing, Draco? It’s obvious that he likes you too.” Draco opened his mouth, probably about to spout out a load of nonsense about how he wasn’t worthy of the great Harry Potter or some other bullshit, but Maddie held up her hand to stop him. “No. I know exactly what you’re going to say. You’re a good person, Draco. Yes, you’ve done some bad things in the past, but you’ve more than made up for your mistakes. You deserve to be happy and if that means being with Harry then that makes him one lucky son of a bitch.” 

Draco stared at her in stunned silence, hope blooming in his eyes as he mulled over Maddie’s words. “You really think so?” he asked, voice cracking. 

“Of course I do. Now, why don’t you go home and get some rest? Your shift is over soon and, truth be told, you look like shit.” 

Draco laughed. “Thanks, Maddie,” he said, pulling her into a hug. 

“Anytime. See you tonight,” she replied as he stepped away, drew his wand and apparated home. 

\----- 

Draco raised his hand to knock – he’d lost count of the number of times he’d hesitated outside Harry’s room in the last hour, fist poised to rap on the door, before he’d chickened out and walked away – and took a deep breath to steel himself. 

“Oh for Merlin’s sake!” Maddie called out from the reception desk. “If you don’t knock on that bloody door soon I’m going to come over there and bang it with your stupid head!” 

The shouting had obviously disturbed the occupant of the room because suddenly the door Draco had been agonising over swung open to reveal a very confused looking Harry. 

“What’s going- Oh! Draco!” 

Draco lowered his hand, cursing Maddie’s big mouth. “Hi. I wondered if I could have a word with you. May I come in?” 

“Sure,” Harry said, smiling, as he opened the door fully for Draco. 

The door slammed shut behind him and Draco jumped, taking a calming breath as Harry brushed past him and sat on the bed. 

“I wanted to apologise for what happened this morning.” 

“Oh,” Harry said, the smile falling from his face as his lips quirked down in worry. “I’m sorry if I was too forward. I just… I guess I thought that you might… well, like me.” 

“No!” Draco shouted as he realised that Harry had misunderstood. “That’s not what I’m apologising for.” He took a deep breath. “I wanted to apologise for running away. I shouldn’t have done that.” 

Harry stared at him in confusion. “What?” 

Merlin, Draco thought, I’m going to have to spell it out, aren’t I. “What I’m trying to say is that your assumptions about me might not have been that far off after all,” he said in a rush. 

“Yeah?” Harry asked as he finally grasped what Draco was saying, a smile emerging and threatening to take over his whole face when Draco nodded in reply. 

Draco held his breath as Harry got to his feet. His movements were slow and cautious, almost as if Draco were some wild animal he was trying not to spook. Wide grey eyes watched as Harry moved closer and closer, the space between them disappearing as breath mingled with breath. Harry smiled – not a blinding grin, or even a cheeky smirk, but a fond, tender smile that had Draco’s heart melting in his chest – and raised his hand to trail his fingers down Draco’s cheek. Draco closed his eyes and leaned into the warmth, all thoughts of how crazy this was fading into the background as his own shaking hands moved up to hesitantly grip Harry’s waist and smooth lips pressed into his. 

Draco’s eyes shot open. “Wait,” he said, his voice nearly a whisper. 

Harry jumped back. “Is something wrong?” 

“I can’t, Harry,” Draco shook his head, sadly. “I’m your Healer. No matter how much I might want to, I just can’t.” 

“What about when you’re not my Healer anymore?” Harry asked, the determined look in his eyes reminding Draco of the stubborn Gryffindor he knew in school. “You said it yourself that I’ll probably get my memories back soon and, if I don’t, then at least I’ll have Ron and Hermione. And you,” Harry added, almost questioningly. 

Draco smiled. His hands found Harry’s as he nodded. 

“Okay,” Harry smiled back in relief. “So I just have to try and keep my hands off you until I’m out of here.” 

“Reckon you’ll be able handle it?” Draco asked with a smirk. 

Harry laughed. “Not if you keep looking at me like that I won’t!” 

“Well if you can’t control yourself I guess I’ll just have to stop looking at you then,” Draco joked. “Actually,” he said, checking the time, “I should be getting back. I need to help Maddie with rounds. See you later?” 

“Yeah,” Harry replied, stroking Draco’s hand one last time before letting go. “See you soon.” 

Draco couldn’t keep the stupid smile off his face as he left Harry’s room and returned to his spot behind the reception desk and could only manage a weak scowl when Maddie greeted him with _I told you so!_

The smile was still in place hours later when Draco finally arrived home. Harry had once again joined them for the night and Draco had regaled him with his own stories, like the time he had received his first broomstick and promptly crashed it into the pond or the gruelling hours he had spent coming up with the lyrics for _Weasley is Our King_. He was under no illusions when he stepped out of the Floo in his living room that he would be able to sleep any time soon – images and thoughts of Harry were still whirring about in his head – and so, spotting the new edition of _The International Journal of Magical Medicine_ sitting on his coffee table, he settled down on the sofa to distract himself. 

_The health dangers of excessive use of gillyweed…. New breakthroughs in the brewing of the wolfsbane potion… Experimental techniques for examining cursed artefacts… Study suggests new cure for magically-induced memory loss… Dragonscale use in-_

Wait, WHAT?! 

Draco frantically scanned the page and found the article he was looking for. 

_Study suggests new cure for magically-induced memory loss: A recent research study conducted by a team from the University of Wizardry and Witchcraft, Salem MA, USA, has suggested a new treatment for witches and wizards suffering from memory loss caused by exposure to excessive magical force. Although the treatment is still experimental and is yet to be approved by the Magical Health Organisation (MHO), results are promising with many test patients recovering full memory within a few hours. Professor Septimus Michaelangi, head of the Salem research team, comments..._

Draco’s eyes lost focus and he jumped to his feet, thoughts buzzing excitedly around in his head. This could be it; this could be the cure for Harry’s memory loss. Oh Merlin. I’ll need to contact the research team right away. What time is it in Massachusetts? 

Unable to stay still, Draco paced around his living room and thought about how happy Harry would be when he told him the good news. He could imagine the pride on Harry’s face as he told Draco _I always knew you could do it_ and, hell, maybe it would even show everyone – his boss, his colleagues, Granger and Weasley – that he wasn’t such a waste of space after all. And once Harry was cured, Draco wouldn’t be his Healer anymore. He could take him up on that offer of going flying, could see Harry outside of this damn hospital and not have the niggling in the back of his mind that said that Harry was his patient and that this was wrong. Yes, all of Harry’s memories would come back to him; going to Hogwarts, playing Quidditch, Christmas with the Weasleys, being an Auror, the war… 

Draco froze in his tracks, his stomach turning to stone. Harry would remember the war. Would remember the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters and that Draco chose the wrong side. He’s going to hate me, Draco thought, tears welling in his eyes as he slumped onto the sofa and rested his head in his hands. 

He’d been fooling himself, really. Fooling himself that Harry could ever love him, that they could ever have a future together when, as soon as Harry recovered his memories, he would remember how much he hated Draco and would hate him even more for tricking him like this. Draco eventually fell into an exhausted sleep, legs curled up to his chest, as he debated what he should do: not tell anyone and keep the man he loved, all the while knowing that he could have healed him, or try the treatment and lose him forever. 

\----- 

“Shit. Are you okay?” Maddie asked as Draco pushed through the ward doors the next afternoon. “You look awful.” 

Draco grunted in response and collapsed into his chair next to the Mediwitch. He knew he looked a mess. He had slept fitfully; his dreams had been punctuated with images of Harry glaring at him – _did you really think that I, the Boy Who Lived, could ever love a Death Eater_ – and when he woke up he found that he didn’t even have the energy to spell away the dark circles under his eyes. 

Realising that Draco was in no hurry to talk about what was bothering him, Maddie tried a different tactic. “Harry’s in a very good mood today. Ron and Hermione are coming in to visit him this evening,” she said, pursing her lips in confusion when Draco’s frown deepened. 

“Any patients?” he asked, purposely changing the subject. 

“Actually, I’ve just had a call from the manager of the Falmouth Falcons. Apparently during their game against the Wimbourne Wasps one of the audience members ran onto the pitch and started firing jinxes left, right and centre. No one was seriously injured but a few players are being brought in to be checked over. Should be in soon.” 

Draco nodded. A distraction was what he needed, something to take his mind off things while he figured out what on earth he was going to do, and a distraction was exactly what he got. Within a few moments the ward was absolutely swarming with Quidditch players, leaving Draco, Maddie, and an emergency Mediwizard or two to get everyone checked for injuries and healed up. After three hours of non-stop running around, the last Quidditch player – a Falmouth Falcon chaser who had unfortunately been hit with a rather potent Bat Bogey Hex – was discharged from the hospital. 

Granger and Weasley had arrived to see Harry at some point during the commotion and, once he had finished up with his last patient, Draco found himself hovering outside of Harry’s room. The door was propped open just enough for Draco to peek inside and, from his vantage point he could see the trio chatting animatedly. 

“…and then I had to send a memo to the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. I’m telling you, Harry, it was a complete shambles,” Granger was explaining as Harry nodded along, smiling. 

“Not as bad as the time the Department of Magical Transportation royally fucked up those portkeys a few years back though,” added Weasley. 

“Oh, Merlin, I’d forgotten about that! Do you remember, I had to work for two days straight just to sort out that mess,” Granger said. 

“Don’t remind me,” Weasley laughed. “I don’t think Mum will ever forgive you for missing Sunday lunch.” 

She and Weasley continued their private tirade about the Ministry of Magic – Draco vaguely remembered reading something in the Daily Prophet a while ago about malfunctioning portkeys and the subsequent lawsuits – and, glancing blankly between his friends, Harry’s smile fell. Draco could sympathise. No matter how much time Harry spent with Granger and Weasley, no matter how many stories they told him of Hogwarts or how many photo albums they brought in, he would always be an outsider because he just couldn’t remember any of it. And in that moment, looking at Harry looking at his friends, Draco’s heart broke a little for him. He knew that if he didn’t at least try to help he’d never forgive himself. Making his decision, he spun away from the door and marched down the corridor. 

“Maddie,” he said upon seeing the Mediwitch, who was bent over a pile of notes, a bag of fizzing whizbees open on the desk in front of her. “Can I talk to you?” 

“Yeah, sure,” she said, extracting one of the sherbet balls and popping it into her mouth. 

I might as well just come out and say it, Draco thought as he sat down beside her and took a sweet from the bag. “I think I might have found a way to recover Harry’s memories.” 

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? What is it?” 

Draco explained about the article. “It seems as if they’ve used a wound healing spell and combined it with a memory charm of their own creation. The wand movement alone seems pretty tricky,” he said, showing her the elaborate swishes and flicks with his wand, “but I think it might actually work.” 

“This is brilliant, Draco!” Maddie exclaimed. “Harry will get his memory back and you can finally ask him out. I call dibs on bridesmaid at the wedding!” 

Draco stared determinedly at the desk. 

“Hey,” Maddie said, noticing that through all of this Draco hadn’t smiled once. “Aren’t you supposed to be happy? I mean, your boyfriend-“ 

“He’s not my boyfri-“ 

“Your boyfriend,” Maddie interrupted loudly, “will be all better. He’ll have all of his memories back, he can leave here and you two can go skipping off into the sunset together.” 

Draco sighed. “Yes, he’ll have his memory back, which will also include all of the shitty things I’ve ever done to him, not to mention that I was a bloody Death Eater who joined the wizard who had spent years actively trying to murder him.” 

“Ah,” Maddie said as the pin dropped. 

“Indeed,” Draco agreed, running his hands through his hair despairingly. “He’s going to remember that he hates me, has always hated me, and he’s not going to want anything to do with me ever again.” 

“Maybe he won’t hate you,” she suggested. “Maybe he’ll be able to see how much you’ve changed since the war.” 

Wishing beyond anything that he could believe that, could believe that Harry might see past the mistakes he had made and see the man he was now, Draco shook his head. Maddie stretched her arms around him and the tears he had been holding back all day finally broke free. 

\----- 

“So I don’t want you to get your hopes up too high about this,” Draco explained to Harry later that evening after Maddie had spelled away his blotchy cheeks and bloodshot eyes. “It’s an experimental technique so we don’t really know if it will work or not.” 

Harry beamed back at him. “But there’s a good chance it might work? When can we do it? Can we do it now?” 

Draco shook his head. “I still need to read up on the research and practice the spell so perhaps in a day or two.” 

“Brilliant!” 

Draco smiled sadly; Harry’s excitement was contagious but he knew that, if everything went to plan, in only a handful of days Harry would never want to talk to him again. 

The next few days passed in a blur. Draco practised the spell and wand movements at every chance he got and spent the remainder of his time checking and double checking the research to make sure that he hadn’t missed something vital. But no, he was ready. 

“Okay, so first I’m going to put you into an enchanted sleep which should keep you under until morning. Then I’m going to cast the spell and, if all goes well, when you wake up, you should be able to remember everything. Sound okay?” Draco asked, checking that Harry understood. 

Harry nodded back at him enthusiastically and smiled. “Draco,” he said, reaching out and clasping Draco’s hand as he moved to draw his wand. “I just wanted to say thank you, even if this doesn’t work.” 

Draco swallowed the lump in his throat as his hand was slowly released. He drank in the sight of Harry sitting before him, smile directed at him because Draco made him happy, green eyes, full of warmth, looking at him like he was important and beautiful and worth something, and raised his wand. 

“ _Somnus._ ” 

Harry collapsed back onto the bed, eyes closed in a deep sleep. Draco drew in a deep breath; now was the difficult part. He called Maddie into the room who hurried to Harry, making sure he was comfortable. 

“You can do it, Draco,” she nodded at him. 

He shook out his arms and raised his wand once more. 

“ _Vulnera Sanentur, Memoria Teneo. Vulnera Sanentur, Memoria Teneo_ ,” Draco repeated in a melodic, song-like incantation, his wand moving in complex spirals and flicks in the air. “ _Vulnera Sanentur, Memoria Teneo_ ,” he finished, dropping his arm to his side. 

“Is that it?” Maddie asked. 

“I think so. We’ll know in the morning if it worked or not.” 

Draco looked at Harry lying peacefully on the bed, memories hopefully reforming in his head as he slept, and came to a decision. He had to get out of there. There was no way he could just sit there and wait for the man he loved to wake up, to see the anger on his face as he realised just who Draco was, without something inside of him falling apart. Hell, he’d barely left the hospital in the past few days. He deserved some time off. 

“I’m going to head home, Maddie,” Draco said. “Healer Chapman is on call tonight so Floo her if anything happens. You’ll let me know how it goes with Harry?” 

Maddie nodded. “I’ll come by yours in the morning.” 

The hospital Floo was thankfully quiet at this time of night and Draco soon found himself spinning into his fireplace. He stepped out onto his carpet, brushing soot from his robes, and stood there blankly for a few moments, at a loss for what to do now. Waiting around here was nearly as bad as waiting around at the hospital, Draco thought. Realising that there was only one way he was going to be able to make it through the night, Draco went to the bathroom and began to rummage around in his potions cabinet. Hangover potions, cough draughts, Pepperup, Sleekeazy’s Hair Tonic, ah! Dreamless Sleep potion. Draco took the slender bottle from the shelf, hung up his robes – after all, losing the person you love is no excuse for creased robes – and took a swig of potion enough to knock him out till morning. The drowsiness overtook him immediately. He managed to cork the bottle and climb under his duvet before his head hit the pillow and he passed out. 

\----- 

Draco woke the next morning to the sun glaring into his eyes through a gap in his bedroom curtains and a persistent knocking at his bedroom door. He begrudgingly left the warmth of his bed and slouched to the door. 

“Good morning!” Maddie chirped – Draco cursed himself for ever giving her access to his Floo – the a fresh cup of coffee she handed to him only slightly making up for the early and much too cheerful wake up call. “I’ve been calling you from the Floo for ages.” 

“Sorry,” Draco muttered, still half asleep but ever polite – he was his mother’s son, after all. “Can I get you anything to eat?” 

“Oh, don’t be silly. Why don’t you go sit down and wake up while I make us some breakfast,” she waved him away as she busied herself in the kitchen. 

Draco obediently slumped onto the sofa, sighing as he breathed in the smell of hot coffee. By the time Maddie brought over a towering plate of toast, he was feeling much more human. 

“So…” Draco said, slowly biting off a chunk of toast, stomach roiling with nerves. 

“So,” Maddie started, “Harry woke up a few hours ago.” 

Draco leaned forward, impatient. “And?” 

“And it worked.” 

Draco grinned - it had worked, he had cured Harry - before the sinking realisation hit him and he deflated. He should be happy; Harry was free to go out and live his life, to be happy and be with the people he loved, but there was a part of him, tiny and selfish and buried deep, that had hoped that the spell wouldn’t work, that hoped that Harry would wake up with his memories still locked up inside. 

“As far as we can tell the spell was a complete success. His friends came in this morning to take him home. I’m so sorry, Draco,” she said, resting a hand on his arm and eyeing him in concern. “I really didn’t want it to end this way.” 

Draco laughed wryly. “Yeah. Me neither.” 

After making sure that Draco had eaten enough, Maddie eventually went home to catch up on sleep before her next shift and Draco was left alone with his thoughts. This whole situation was so fucked up. To fall in love with someone, to actually think you have a chance with them, and then have it snatched away from you – even he didn’t deserve that. Karma really was a bitch. 

Tears burned in his eyes at the hopelessness of it all but he held them back. He was a Malfoy and, no matter how much his name was dragged through the dirt, he still had the Malfoy pride. Determined to distract himself from the emptiness he was sure he would feel if he thought about things for too long, Draco pulled every book he could reach from the shelves around him and made a start on the one closest. 

By the time the evening sun faded, Draco had worked his way through Charm Your Own Cheese, Hogwarts a History and was currently reading his favourite story from The Tales of Beedle the Bard. He had just got to the best part in The Fountain of Fair Fortune, the bit where the knight declares his love for Amata, when a knocking and shouting at his front door interrupted him. 

“Draco! Draco, I know you’re in there!” 

Draco looked up in confusion. The only people who ever visited him were his mother and Maddie and that voice was definitely neither of them. He slowly climbed to his feet, his legs protesting the movement after being in one position for so long, and warily opened the front door, his jaw dropping in disbelief when he saw who it was. 

Harry stood on Draco’s doorstep, dishevelled and out of breath as if he had ran the entire way here. 

“Harry?” Draco asked, not putting it past himself to be imagining things. 

“Hi,” Harry replied. “Can I please come in?” 

Draco stepped back from the door, still in a state of mild shock, the urge to laugh hysterically bubbling up inside him as Harry Potter walked into his living room. He couldn’t understand why Harry was here – the only reason he could think of was that he was just so furious with Draco that he wanted to shout at him in person. 

“I’m sorry,” Draco blurted out, anticipating Harry’s anger and desperately shoving away the morsel of hope that had bloomed deep down inside him at seeing the Auror again. 

Harry’s face twisted into a scowl. “Yeah, well, you should be!” he yelled, causing Draco to flinch. “Where the fuck were you?!” 

Draco frowned in confusion. “Wait, what?” he said, uncomprehending, but Harry wasn’t finished. 

“I wake up completely alone then Maddie tells me that you’ve gone home early! And then Ron and Hermione come to get me and you’re fucking nowhere to be seen and I can’t even say goodbye to you. Then I hear no word from you all day and finally, when I can’t take it anymore, I have to go back to the fucking hospital and practically beg Maddie to tell me where you live so I can come round here and shout some sense into you!” 

Harry was breathing hard, his cheeks flushed in anger as Draco stared back at him with wide eyes. 

“So where were you?” Harry asked quietly, oddly vulnerable as the fight drained out of him. “Did what happened in the hospital mean nothing to you?” 

“I don’t understand,” Draco said, finally finding his voice. “Are you saying that you wanted me to be there when you woke up?” 

Harry frowned at him. “Of course I did.” 

“And you’re sure that you remember everything? You have all of your memories back? About me? And the war?” 

“Everything.” 

“Then why? You know who I am, what I’ve done. Why are you here?” Draco demanded, his eyes prickling with tears. 

Harry’s face softened. He stepped forward and placed his hands on Draco’s shoulders. “Draco Malfoy, you listen to me. I watched you after Hogwarts; how you kept your head held high, how you became a Healer when no one thought you could, how you moved on and grew into your chin,” Harry laughed at Draco’s scowl. “I’ve been in love with you for years, although, if I’m being honest with myself, I think it started long before that. After all, it’s always been you, hasn’t it?” 

Tears were now freely flowing down Draco’s cheeks. His tongue felt dry and useless in his mouth so he did the only thing he could think of to tell Harry how he felt. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Harry’s. 

The hands on his shoulder shifted, one moving to tangle in his hair and the other coming to rest on his lower back, pulling him in closer as Harry moved his lips against Draco’s. Draco gulped back a sob, unable to believe that after everything Harry still wanted him. He twined his hands around the Auror’s neck, his chest bumping against something equally solid as he inched forward. He moaned softly when Harry’s tongue pushed past his lips and, almost unbearably slowly, twined with his own. The hand in his hair tightened, manoeuvring his head to the side as Harry deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding hot and wet against Draco’s. Teeth nipped at his lips and trailed over his jaw as Harry slowly walked Draco backwards, his other hand gripping the material at Draco’s waist. He felt his back hit the wall just as the sharp nips began to descend down his neck and he threw his head back with a sigh when Harry’s hand slipped under his shirt, fingers caressing the feverish skin of his stomach. 

“Fuck,” Harry let out in a groan, removing his hand from Draco’s hair and joining the other under his shirt as his mouth moved back to Draco’s. 

The sound of their heavy breathing filled the room as Harry’s hands impatiently slid up Draco’s body, fingers trailing over ribs and circling around nipples, causing the Healer to whimper in appreciation. Harry moved closer and moaned when the hardness in his trousers rubbed tantalisingly against the matching one in Draco’s. In one smooth movement he had Draco’s wrists clasped in his hands and pinned against the wall, his body pressed against the Healer’s as their erections touched under far too many layers of clothes. 

“Bedroom?” Harry asked, his voice gravelly. 

Draco caught his breath. “Door on the left.” 

Hands still under Draco’s shirt, Harry manoeuvred the both of them across the room - the lips and tongue and teeth trailing down Draco’s neck were making it difficult for him to concentrate on not tripping over as he shuffled backwards. Draco felt his back collide with the wood of his bedroom door and his hand scrambled for the handle, the two of them stumbling inside as the door swung open. Harry wasted no time in liberating Draco of his shirt, his eyes and hands now roaming freely over the half-naked man in front of him. Never one to be outdone, Draco grasped the hem of Harry’s shirt and yanked it over his head, groaning when bare chest met bare chest as he leaned forward for another kiss. 

Strong hands moved up to Draco’s shoulders and pushed, causing the blond to go sprawling on the bed. He glanced up and felt his cock twitch; Harry was standing before him wearing nothing but a battered pair of jeans and was looking at him like he was the most irresistible thing he had ever seen. Harry shook his head with a smile, as if he couldn’t believe could be so lucky, and climbed onto the bed, positioning himself between Draco’s legs and leaning forward to capture his lips in a heated kiss. Much too soon for Draco’s liking – he felt like he could kiss the brunet forever – Harry pulled away and moved down, trailing his mouth all over his body, lips kissing across his collarbone, tongue swirling around his nipples, teeth grazing over his hipbones, until Draco couldn’t stand it anymore. 

“Harry,” he whimpered. “Please.” 

Harry smiled wickedly and, as if that was what he had been waiting for, slowly began to unbutton Draco’s trousers. He worked his fingers under the waistband of the Healer’s boxers and pulled both layers down together, eyes bulging as Draco’s erect cock sprang free. The blond was stripped naked and moaned in anticipation as Harry lowered himself down. 

“Fuck!” Draco threw his head back in bliss as a wet heat engulfed him. His fingers scrabbled for purchase on the sheets as Harry hummed, the vibrations tingling up and down his spine like electricity. A tongue swirled around the head of Draco’s cock and he cried out as he felt himself hit the back of Harry’s throat. The strong hands that had been holding Draco down by the hips slid lower, brushing down over his balls with a feather light touch as a strong weight pushed his thighs further apart. Draco gasped as the fingers trailed lower and reached out a hand when he felt a tell-tale pressure begin to build all too soon in his abdomen. 

“Harry, Harry,” he warned. “Stop.” 

Harry released Draco from his mouth with a pop. “Turn over.” 

Draco’s eyes widened as he hastened to obey. He settled on his front, cock rubbing uncomfortably against the covers, and called out in surprise when his hips were pulled back, leaving Draco with his arse up in the air. Hot breath grazed his lower back and he felt a flush spread up his neck as he realised what the Auror was about to do. He tensed instinctively as hands gently prised apart his cheeks, leaving him exposed, and gasped when a warm tongue swirled around his entrance. 

“Oh fuuuuuck,” Draco breathed, burying his face in his arms. 

He felt himself relax as the tongue continued circling his hole and whimpered when Harry surged forward, pushing past the tight ring of muscle and inside Draco. Incoherent noises of pleasure burst free from the Healer as Harry worked his tongue in and out at an almost unbearable pace. When Draco’s legs were shaking so much that he could barely hold himself up, Harry removed his tongue and Draco heard a whine that he belatedly realised had issued from his own mouth. 

Draco felt strong hands around his waist mere seconds before he was flipped onto his back and greeted with the sight of Harry settling between his legs, tight boxers barely concealing his erect cock, staring down at him with eyes so blown with lust that it nearly had the Healer coming right there and then. He tried and failed not to stare as Harry hurriedly removed his boxers and promptly forgot all about his manners as his brain short circuited. Of course he’d be an expert at wandless magic, Draco managed to think through the haze as Harry’s suddenly very lubricated hand grasped both of their cocks together, the incredible friction shooting through his entire body. 

“Faster. Please, faster,” he begged, throwing his head back in abandon as the hand on his cock sped up; the quiet moans coming from the wizard above him nearly bringing him to the brink. 

Just when Draco thought that he couldn’t take it a single second longer, Harry stopped. Draco whimpered, head whipping up in desperation to stare at the Auror, and gulped when he saw Harry spreading a liberal coating of lubrication on his cock. As if sensing the blond’s nervousness, Harry’s met his eyes questioningly and, without hesitation, Draco shifted - his legs falling further to the side in silent answer. Sending him a heated look, Harry moved forward, lining up his cock with Draco’s entrance, and slowly, tenderly pressed inside. Draco squeezed his eyes shut against the burn as he felt himself being stretched open, his gasp echoed above him as pain turned to pleasure and Harry, fully seated inside him, leaned forward to capture his lips in a searing kiss. His shaking hands tangled in Harry’s hair as they moved together, flowing around each other so perfectly that Draco couldn’t help but think that they were made to do this, that every moment they had spent not doing this had been a complete waste of time. 

Pleasure tore through him as Harry sped up, his cock hitting the sweet spot inside him that had him crying out all manner of obscenities. 

“Fuck, Draco,” Harry moaned, pressing passionate kisses down his neck; in his wildest fantasies he’d never imagined the quiet, reserved Healer to be so vocal. 

Draco’s fingers turned rough in Harry’s hair as he arched upwards, straining as he sought for some friction against the aching cock lying untouched on his stomach. A hand slid roughly down his body and Draco groaned, seeing stars as it latched onto his cock and began to pump in time with the thrusts now slamming in and out of him. 

“Oh God,” Harry sobbed, the tender look in his eyes completely at odds with the frantic movements of his hand. “I love you.” 

This pushed Draco over the edge, his entire body stiffening as his balls tightened and waves of white hot pleasure shot through him. Harry’s movements became erratic, his hips jerking and stuttering, the sight of Draco coming below him, eyes scrunched and cheeks flushed, too much for him to handle. He fell forward, arms braced either side of the Healer, as he choked out his release. 

As Draco came down from his high, he felt a warm weight settle onto him. He sighed contentedly, tired and sore but not wanting to be anywhere else, and wrapped his arms snugly around the man on top of him. 

“I love you too,” he said and, feeling Harry smile against his neck, reflected that maybe karma wasn’t so bad after all. 

\----- 

Two Years Later

Draco was hyperventilating. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chanted as he paced a trail into the thick carpet. “What the hell am I doing? What if he’s changed his mind?” 

“For Merlin’s sake, Draco,” Maddie sighed, “you need to calm the fuck down.” 

He glared at her as he made another rotation of the room. “Remind me again why I asked you to do this.” 

“Because I called dibs,” she explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “But seriously, you do need to calm down.” She came to stand in front of Draco, stopping him in his tracks, and reached out to straighten his tie. “We’ve been over this a million times; you two are perfect for each other. He’s not going to change his mind. Anyway, he asked you, right?” 

Draco took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Maddie was right. The past two years had been the happiest of his life and, anyway, if he didn’t stop moving around so much he’d ruin his suit. He grasped Maddie’s hand; even though he might joke that she was an awful choice and that he’d only picked her out of respect for a two year old dibs alongside a lack of other options, he knew that he wouldn’t be here today without her. And he had to admit that she looked beautiful in her floor length, sky blue dress – Draco had wanted green but had been unceremoniously shot down in favour of a more house-neutral colour. 

A knock at the door interrupted his musings as a not-so-bushy head poked round the door. “Everything’s set up. Are you nearly ready, Draco?” asked Hermione. 

He had been surprised by how easily Hermione had accepted him two years ago – she had waved away his many apologies, saying that they were adults now and that it would probably be best if they started over – and he now felt lucky to count her among his close friends. Ron had been a bit more difficult, old family rivalries run deep, after all, but he soon thawed to Draco when they met at a Chudley Cannons vs. Kenmare Kestrels game and found that they both shared a great love for Quidditch. 

Draco looked at Hermione – she looked as stunning as the Mediwitch in her matching blue gown – and nodded. He straightened his suit, pausing to check his reflection in the mirror one last time, before he exited the room, Maddie and Hermione following behind him. 

“Oh, darling. You look absolutely wonderful.” Narcissa Malfoy appeared next to her son and kissed him on both cheeks. 

“Of course I do,” Draco said assuredly. “As do you, Mother,” he added at Narcissa’s raised eyebrow. She did, in fact, look wonderful in elegant, silver robes. 

He slipped his hand into the crook of her elbow, the nerves flooding back at full force as Maddie and Hermione positioned themselves in front of him, bouquets of lilies clasped in their hands. Music sounded through the room as the double doors ahead of him opened. Draco’s mouth went dry, his confidence leaving him as countless faces turned in his direction. He wanted to stop, to run, to turn away from the gazes he was sure would be judging, but, just as he was on the brink of letting his nerves take over, a figure at the end of the room caught his attention. The figure was tall, only a bit shorter than Draco, with messy black hair and crooked glasses. He would have recognised him anywhere, but it was the look on the man’s face that had Draco entranced. The man was looking at him in awe, like he couldn’t believe his luck, like he was the happiest man in the world and it was all down to Draco. 

The doubts that had been plaguing Draco all day faded away. He couldn’t remember why he had ever been nervous. He was about to spend the rest of his life with the man that he loved and who loved him in return. A grin split his face and he laughed as he fell into step behind his bridesmaids and walked down the aisle. Towards Harry. 

\----FIN---- 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed please leave Kudos :)


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